Sacrifice
Posted By Russ Emerson on April 23, 2004 at 1:24 pm
Pat Tillman could have stayed home. He could have sat on the pile of money he earned for playing a game.
But no. He recognized that there were bigger things in life than football, money and fame, that there were things more important than himself. He gave up fame and fortune to serve his country, and to serve us.
Even if he had spent his entire hitch stateside in a comparatively safe military specialty, his sacrifice was greater than that of virtually everyone who has ever enlisted. Merely by signing on the dotted line, raising his hand and taking the oath, he gave up more to wear his country’s uniform than any of his fellow soldiers did.
For that sacrifice alone, he deserved praise. These days, how many others of the “rich and famous” in this country would go so far as to enlist? Have you heard of any? Are there more Ted Williams, Jimmy Stewarts or Pat Tillmans?
I haven’t heard of any. I don’t expect to hear its like any time soon. I hope I’m wrong.
Tillman could have signed on for any number of military specialties that would have been comparatively risk-free, but chose to put himself into an inherently risky specialty, as an airborne Ranger. It was his duty, he said, to give something back to the country that had enabled his great success.
He gave up fame and fortune, but he could have had that again — perhaps to a greater degree — after his service was complete.
Yesterday, though, he made the exact same sacrifice as thousands of Americans have through our history — he gave everything in the service of his country. He — and they — fight and die over there so you and I don’t have to do so over here.
Pat Tillman is undoubtedly the most famous of the soldiers we have lost in this war. Had he lived, he would have returned home after his service to great praise and fame. He would have earned it, too, merely by giving up as much as he did to serve, while no one of similar circumstances has done so.
In death, however, he surpasses the fame of those who have stayed home. People will quickly forget the names of those who are playing football this year, but Pat Tillman will be long remembered.
He has become equal to all the fallen soldiers whose passing is rarely noted by more than a headline in a hometown newspaper. Perhaps his death will serve to shine a light on the courage and sacrifices of all those who put on the uniform in the service of their country, especially those who fall in that service.
We always hope America will never need men of such quality; but we also pray that when we do need them, we will have them in abundance.